Off Grid and Grid Battery Backup Solutions

Tesla Batteries: Solar inverter companies line up to enter partnerships with new storage system

Thu 7 May 2015

Here is more information about the Tesla Lithium Ion battery system mentioned in a previous blog. In this blog, companies such as SolarEdge, Fronius, Reposit Power and Vector have made announcements regarding using the Tesla battery in their inverter and control equipment

Leading companies including SolarEdge, Fronius, Reposit Power and Vector (New Zealand) have all made announcements regarding partnerships and collaborations with the company, best known for making electric cars.

The low-cost batteries, unveiled to great fanfare at the end of April, are seen as potential game-changers in the domestic storage market.

SolarEdge
Among the first to announce its collaboration was PV inverter company SolarEdge, which announced a deal to develop an inverter solution for Tesla’s Powerwall.

“Tesla’s collaboration with SolarEdge unites leading organisations in two rapidly-growing industries – solar energy and energy storage – to bring homeowners a more cost-effective and integrated energy generation, storage, and consumption solution,” said JB Straubel, CTO of Tesla.

“SolarEdge’s commitment to improving the value of PV systems through product innovation, combined with more than 1.3 GW of successful deployments, makes it an ideal partner for Tesla to develop and introduce this new energy storage solution to the PV market.”

The solution will also support upgrading existing SolarEdge systems with the storage solution.

Fronius Symo Hybrid

Fronius
Solar inverter manufacturer Fronius also announced a partnership with Tesla, saying it is developing communication compatibility between the Fronius Symo Hybrid inverter and the Tesla Powerwall.
Fronius will offer the Powerwall in combination with the Symo Hybrid inverter as a solution for residential PV systems, starting in Europe at the end of 2015 and later in Australia.
Fronius said the Tesla Powerwall will be available as an alternative to the Fronius Solar Battery. Both options will work in conjunction with the Fronius Symo Hybrid inverter and a Fronius Smart Meter. Fronius is therefore offering a second, wall-mounted storage solution, suitable for outdoor use.

Reposit Power
Canberra technology company Reposit Power secured a slightly different type of deal with the US carmaker, announcing it is combining its GridCredits storage system with Tesla’s Powerwall battery.

The intelligent GridCredits system has been designed to work with battery storage hardware and will be available with other batteries in addition to Tesla’s.

Reposit launched a Canberra based trial of GridCredits late last year, supported by $445,000 of ARENA funding. Reposit now plans to offer GridCredits – which works with battery storage to control and store energy – to Australian consumers as a commercial product in late 2015.

Vector
Finally, New Zealand electricity network operator announced it will be offering the Tesla home battery to customers in New Zealand. Vector said it had been working for some months to cement a special relationship with Tesla to provide the technology.

“This is the start of a significant change in the energy industry,” said CEO Simon Mackenzie. “Tesla is the largest producer of batteries in the world, as well as the most cost effective, and this strong relationship with Tesla will allow us to take it to the next level across the country.”